This one especially hurts: A fellow journalist and a contemporary, one whose newspaper just shut down last week, is dead after being involved in a bicycling accident last Friday. Friends of Rocky Mountain News reporter James Meadow have set up a Facebook page with lots of memories, condolences and stories. Apparently he was literally “just riding along” and suddenly fell. He was wearing a helmet at the time.
Also last Friday, David Meek, past president of the Chattanooga Bicycle Club and an experienced, safety-conscious rider, was killed when his bike’s saddle bag got hooked by a passing truck. Incidents like this cry out for at a minimum aggressive enforcement of the three-foot rule, giving cyclists at least a yard of clearance when passing. Washington State is considering three-foot legislation. “3 Feet Please” offers jerseys and I’ve seen bumper stickers as well. At present Florida, Connecticut, New Hampshire, Oregon, Illinois, Tennessee, Minnesota, Utah, Wisconsin, Arizona, South Carolina, Oklahoma and Maine have 3-feet laws, according to the group, and Canada is working on legislation as well.